YORK Handmade Brick Company has supplied 47,000 specially-made bricks for Dumfries House, a pioneering Scottish restoration project masterminded by the Prince of Wales.

York Handmade, based in Alne, near Easingwold, created Dumfries Blend bricks for the Walled Garden and the Belvedere Folly at Dumfries House.

The contract was worth £50,000 and the quality of the bricks themselves was praised by Prince Charles at the prestigious opening ceremony this month, which was also attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

David Armitage, the chairman and managing director of York Handmade, commented: “The official opening of Dumfries House was an absolutely splendid occasion. We were glowing with pride about the quality of our bricks and were delighted when Prince Charles himself mentioned them in his opening speech.

“This was an extremely exciting and challenging project for us, superbly supervised by our sales manager Mark Laksevics. It involved creating bricks which fitted in perfectly with the ravaged boundary wall of the walled garden as well as unique specials for the Belvedere Folly and the Education Centre at Dumfries House.